


Glasses

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Archie is a Sweetheart, Body Image, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Friendship, M/M, Maxie Feels Bad About Himself, Pre-Slash, Self-Esteem Issues, Slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 22:02:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11389299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: Why did Arceus hate him so much? Maxie had never been blessed with good looks. These glasses certainly didn't help matters.





	Glasses

Why did Arceus hate him?

“Archie, please,” Maxie was practically begging at this point, “I don’t want to come outside. You’ll see them tomorrow at school. So can you just please go home and leave me alone for a day?”

Of course, Archie never listened to anything he said. Through the other side of the door, Maxie heard Archie yell, “No way, Max! Why won’t you just come outside and show me? We’re friends for Arceus sakes!”

Maxie groaned and rubbed at his temples, trying to ward off the headache beginning to blossom in the inside of his skull. The two of them had been at this for almost an hour now, going back and forth with neither one yielding. Maxie still refused to open the door of his house, and Archie refused to leave. Maxie was honestly surprised. He thought Archie would’ve given up now out of boredom and just accept defeat… but he supposed this is what he deserved for underestimating just how persistent (annoying) Archie could be when he truly wanted to be.

“Of course we’re friends, Archie, I am not challenging that, it’s just that-“ Maxie had began, only for Archie to interrupt him.

“So then why won’t you let me see them? Are you afraid I will make fun of you or something?” Archie asked, before he began rattling the door a little more, as if he could physically force the door open with his strength alone.

Maxie flinched uncomfortably at how Archie had managed to hit the mark already, grateful that Archie couldn’t see the reaction. Trying to keep the answer out of his voice, he said, “I am more worried about you breaking the door down if anything…”

That wasn’t exactly a lie either. Archie had basically had done everything at this point to try and force the door to open. Pounding it, trying to basically tackle it open like a wild Pokémon, and even begging and trying to bribe Maxie through the door in the hopes that the redhead would be swayed. At one incredibly pathetic moment, Archie had even tried to beg Maxie’s Numel, Octavius, to tackle the door open for him, offering the Pokémon a Pokeblock as compensation for its work. For a worrying moment, it actually looked like Octavius was CONSIDERING the offer, but thankfully one glare from Maxie quickly reminded the Pokémon who he was loyal to and Octavius stood dutifully by his side.

Maxie could hear that Archie had resorted back to trying to tackle the door open, the thuds getting increasingly louder with each second. The redhead sighed. If Archie wasn’t careful, not only was he going to get Maxie in trouble with his parents for the door being damaged, but the other boy was going to get hurt as well.

Even if the idiot deserved it, the thought of Archie seriously injuring himself all because Maxie was too embarrassed to walk outside sat uneasily with him. So telling himself that he was only doing this because he didn’t want to listen to Archie whine when he eventually got hurt, he flung open the door.

Archie, who’d been charging towards the door at the time, was caught off-guard by this and desperately tried to stop himself… only to tumble into a graceless heap on the floor of Maxie’s house. Thankfully Maxie managed to take a quick step back before Archie collapsed, avoiding the other boy taking him down with him.

Shooting up to his feet, Archie brushed the dirt off of himself and pouted, “You could’ve warned a guy, you know?”

“Sorry,” Maxie said with a shrug, not sounding sorry at all as he inspected the door, sighing a breath of relief through his nose as he saw it wasn’t damaged. Closing the door he said, “Didn’t want you to actually manage to break the door.”

Archie opened his mouth, no doubt to point out that it wouldn’t kill Maxie to be a little more sympathetic or something of that like, but his comment seemed to die on his tongue when he noticed the absence of the very thing he came to see.

“You’re not wearing them, Max?” 

Maxie shot him a glare and hissed, “Of course not, idiot! I hate them! If possible, I try to avoid wearing them as much as possible…”

Archie rolled his eyes and said, “I think you’re just being dramatic again, Max.” 

Maxie shook his head and said in deadpan, “No, I don’t think I am actually. I seriously look like a Bug Pokémon of some kind with them on.”

Even with blurred vision, Maxie could practically see the corners of Archie’s mouth twitch upwards and his body tremble a little, but, thankfully, the boy held back his laughter. Once Archie seemed to trust himself to speak, he said, “Again, I am sure you’re just exaggerating, Maxie. Where are they? I want to see them.”

“Upstairs,” Maxie said with a defeated sigh. He gestured towards the stairs with a nod of his head before slowly making his way up them, Octavius and Archie following close behind. Maxie wasn’t one hundred percent sure if he was just imagining things or not, but he was pretty sure his body was subconsciously trying to prevent this moment from happening. His steps up the stairs seemed to be much slower than usual and the steps seemed to take much longer to clamber up than he remembered. However, if he was going slowly, Archie wasn’t commenting on it.

When they finally reached the top, Maxie told Archie and Octavius to wait there before slipping into his room, dread crawling around in his stomach and making him feel ill. He really hoped he didn’t throw up because right now that was seeming like it had a high probability of happening.

Going over to his desk, he picked up the large glasses perched on there and slid them on his face. He didn’t even have to look in his mirror to know they looked big and awkward. 

Honestly, why did this have to happen to him?

He’d always gotten the short end of the stick when it came to looks. Everything about him seemed to be some kind of design flaw. Sickly pale skin that was smattered with freckles. Heavy bags shaded the underside of his eyes and refused to go away no matter how much sleep he got. Zits that allied with the freckles in giving his face a grosser, greasier look. A body that was so rail-thin, concerned mothers often worried he would pass out from malnourishment. A short height that made him ripe for mockery. Horrid braces that made him self-conscious about smiling. Long, flimsy hair that made all of the boys at school call him fairy or, worse, faggot. Maxie had just never been blessed with good looks unlike Archie who was handsome, strong, tan, and powerful. And now, to add to his unappealing look, he had these ginormous things that did absolutely nothing to compliment his face.

Seriously, why did they have to be so large and thick? Part of him wanted to take the atrocious things and snap them into pieces. Unfortunately, if he did that though, not only would he have to continue life blind as a Zubat, but his parents would literally murder him so he grudgingly kept them. 

But the thing that bothered him the most is the idea of Archie making fun of him for them. It was one thing when the other kids at school laughed at him. He knew they would do it when he came tomorrow. They always did. It sucked, but he was used to them being dickheads. He knew even if he hadn’t needed glasses, they would just pick something else to harass him about.

But Archie… Archie was different.

Archie had never once made fun of him. Teased him occasionally, sure, but his comments had never been filled with malicious intent like the other kids had been. Archie had always been an enigma like that. Maxie never understood why Archie had taken a liking to him. Archie was cool and popular. He could’ve hung around with whomever he pleased. Probably someone much nicer and better looking than Maxie that was for sure. But for whatever reason, he had decided to befriend Maxie and for that Maxie was eternally grateful.

Not only was he a good friend but he also didn’t make fun of Maxie, as mentioned before, and even defended him from the other kids. So if Archie laughed at him for these… he didn’t know what he would do. He would hate to become even more of a joke he sure he was to Archie.

But he supposed unless he was going to run away from home and live as a wild man in the woods, he couldn’t exactly avoid school or Archie forever. So sucking in a deep breath, he walked out of his room with the glasses on, mentally and emotionally bracing himself for a bad reaction. Tried to think up a few caustic comebacks if Archie came up with something snarky. 

But when he walked out, he found Archie didn’t laugh. He didn’t even grin. He just looked at the glasses curiously. Maxie felt self-conscious all of a sudden and looked away, a blush forming on his cheeks. He felt like he was being examined by someone with a microscope. 

As moments passed, Maxie was beginning to worry that Archie was so shocked he didn’t know what to say. He was about to open his mouth and make a comment, when Archie suddenly said, “I think they look super cool!”

“Wait… what?” Maxie said, disbelief lacing his tone.

Archie threw him a friendly grin and said, “I think they look awesome. You look like someone cool from the future.”

Maxie didn’t know how to take that last comment so he just said, “Thanks?”

Archie held out his hand and said, “Gosh, I can’t believe THAT is what you were so worried about. Now come on. You promised me you would go to the pond at some point and after locking me out, you at least owe me that.” 

Maxie groaned at the idea but took Archie’s hand, letting himself be dragged out the house by the other boy, Octavius following behind with a cry. Honestly, he didn’t know if Archie was just lying because he didn’t want to hurt Maxie’s feelings about his glasses… but even if Archie thought they were as repugnant as he did, he didn’t seem to want to hang out with Maxie less. 

And Maxie couldn’t help but smile a little at that in relief.

**Author's Note:**

> Old OTPs, hell yeah! I was (am) a huge Hardenshipping fan and I always wanted to write something for them but alas, inspiration was dead for a while. So it's only fitting, when this fandom is basically dead and the AO3 barely updates anymore that I finally come up with something, amirite? Oh well, hope those of you still sticking around enjoyed.
> 
> As always, critique is wanted and have a great day!


End file.
